Feds search Reese property for weapons

United States Probation Office officials, with the help of other law enforcement agencies, searched the Reese property south of Deming Monday for weapons and plan to return Tuesday to continue the search, according to court records.

According to an order filed Thursday, Oct. 18 in New Mexico U.S. District Court, authorities from the U.S. Probation Office in New Mexico were allowed to inspect the 85-acre property owned by the Reese family.

Parents Rick and Terri Reese and their children, Remington and Ryin, were all acquitted of one count of conspiracy and 17 counts of gun smuggling related to the late-2011 raid on their property during which government agents sought evidence to prosecute the family for allegedly selling weapons to straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartel use.

The jury's Aug. 2012 decision did convict Terri, Rick and Ryin of making false statements related to the acquisition of firearms. Remington was acquitted of all charges and is now living on the family property with his mother, Terri, whose conditions of release allow her to live on the property so long as there are no firearms or other dangerous weapons present.

According to court documents, Remington had firearms and accessories - such as bayonets or knives - that had to be removed from the property or Terri could not live there. The documents say Terri reportedly had a crew come in to remove firearms on the property that were not initially seized by the federal government.

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In a proceeding for motion to reconsider conditions of release, the pretrial officer, Monica Hoyle, said Remington had "four or five" handguns in his apartment, described as being in walking distance of where Terri lives. She expressed concern with Remington "storing weapons within a close distance of where Ms. Reese is living."

Maria Armijo, an attorney for the United States, said that the property is owned by Rick and Terri and that the safe was owned by Rick and Terri.

Terri later told the court that Remington lives a half mile away and that he has the combinations to the safe. She also said she had crews of people come to the property to clean up the area and remove weapons from the home.

In the proceeding, Hoyle suggested Terri could live in a halfway house if the weapons were not removed, but in a document filed before the proceeding, Terri's lawyer, Brad Hall of Albuquerque, said Terri chooses to remain at the residence "over her son's rights to store weapons at his address in his safe."

The latest comes as Terri, Rick and Ryin await sentencing for their early-Aug. 2012 convictions. The family was initially incarcerated following the Aug. 2011 raid on their property - which included the family business, New Deal Shooting Sports - and their arrests in Las Cruces. Rick and Ryan remain incarcerated.

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